350 jobs at stake as hospital changes programs

The University Specialty Hospital is expected to move its inpatient chronic care services to other hospitals in the University of Maryland Medical System in July, hospital and state officials said Tuesday.

Hospital officials said they would move the traumatic brain injury program to Kernan Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital and ventilator-dependent patients to Maryland General Hospital. The specialty hospital will provide only outpatient programs.

The specialty hospital staff will be able to apply for open positions within the system, though it's unclear how many of the 350 employees will find jobs, according to state and hospital officials.

"It is anticipated that many of the current USH staff members will be able to find other positions at UMMS hospitals," Mary Lynn Carver, a University of Maryland Medical System spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The moves are being made in part because fewer patients need services at the specialty hospital and care can be provided at the other facilities, Carver said.

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